Christiana Rutkowski/ MiddletownA photo posted on the Twitter page of Monmouth County resident Christiana Rutkowski shows the 'civil emergency' alert that was received Monday afternoon by many Verizon Wireless phone customers in New Jersey.

The unfamiliar noise from Jaclyn Boruch's cell phone startled her. She reflexively grabbed it. What she saw next scared her.

In bold red letters were the words "CMAS Alert" followed by "Civil Emergency in this area until 1:24 PM EST Take Shelter Now U.S. Govern."

The emergency alert message took up her entire screen. It locked her Android phone for several minutes.

"I didn’t know if it was something happening in the ocean, some happening on land or coming out of the sky. I had no idea so that’s why it was so frightening," said Boruch, 22, marketing director at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Monmouth County in Asbury Park.

The message, according to Verizon Wireless, was just a test. But the test caused panic and thousands of phone calls to various 911 dispatchers around Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex counties.

It also sparked the State Police to launch an investigation until Verizon Wireless confirmed the alert, which went out at 12:27 p.m. was a test, according to spokesman Sgt. Brian Polite.

About two hours after the mass alert went out, Verizon apologized to its customers.

"This test message was not clearly identified as a test," Verizon spokesman David Samberg said in an e-mailed statement. "We apologize for any inconvenience or concern this message may have caused."

Ernest Fiest, Monroe Township’s emergency management officer, said Verizon told him the "CMAS Alert" was inadvertently transmitted as part of an internal test of the company’s communication system.

John Roberts/West KeansburgHere is the 'civil emergency' alert that many Verizon Wireless phone customers in new Jersey received earlier today.

The alert appeared to have only affected Droid-operated phones, said Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden. His office was flooded with quadruple the number of calls it normally received, he said.

Rumson authorities issued its own alert to citizens in the Monmouth County community: "THERE IS NO EMERGENCY. The 'take shelter' message that Verizon sent IS NOT a VALID message. DO NOT CALL THE POLICE."

The alert sparked confusion that spread online via Twitter, before authorities confirmed that there was no actual danger.

The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness also issued its own tweet within roughly an hour stating, "CURRENTLY THERE IS NO EMERGENCY!!!"

"Emergency government life alert on two phones went off in math to take shelter... what's happening?" tweeted Christiana Rutkowski of Middletown, also posting a photo of a phone displayling an "Extreme Alert" warning.

Barbara Rutkowski of Middletown was at the doctor’s office when her 16-year-old daughter Christiana, who posted on Twitter, asked "is anything bad on the news?" via text message around 1:30 p.m.

When her husband Joe checked his BlackBerry and saw nothing, the couple didn't worry, Rutkowski said.

"With technology, things can spread like wildfire before they can be verified," she said.